To be able to improve the control of a motor vehicle en route on a section of road, it is helpful to have information available about a traffic situation on that section of road. The traffic situation may be determined with the aid of another motor vehicle in the vicinity, for example. For this purpose, the other motor vehicle includes a number of sensors whose data are compared to obtain a usable piece of information from the measured physical circumstances, which may be used to estimate the traffic situation in the area of the second motor vehicle. For example, an object in the area of the second motor vehicle may be scanned on the basis of optical data, radar data and data from an ultrasonic sensor, and during processing of the various data, the object may be recognized as a snowplow or sanding truck, for example, which clears and spreads (e.g., salt, sand) a section of road at the same time.
One problem here is that the determination of the traffic situation in the vicinity of a motor vehicle usually requires multiple sensors and complex and rapid processing. Such well equipped vehicles are presently to be found primarily in the luxury class. Such vehicles are not widespread enough for determining traffic situations on a given road system with even approximately comprehensive coverage.
The present invention is based on the object of providing an improved technique for controlling a motor vehicle.